05 October 2007
Progress on disability equality in the public sector could be eroded with the demise of the Disability Rights Commission, campaigners have warned.
The new Equality and Human Rights Commission began work this week with a remit to reduce inequality and eliminate discrimination. It takes over the responsibilities of the Disability Rights Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission, which ceased operating on September 28.
But disability campaigners are concerned that enforcement of the Disability Equality Duty could slip under the new regime. The duty, which came into force in December 2006, requires public sector bodies to actively promote equality for disabled people.
Chris Brace, head of campaigns at the charity Radar, was concerned that the new commission was not even fully staffed yet.
'Enforcement was difficult from the Disability Rights Commission's perspective as it was, because they didn't have enough people to effectively monitor and enforce all of the different disability equality schemes,' he told Public Finance.
'That's going to be even more of an issue now… We still don't know what the staffing complement is going to look like. The directors aren't in place yet, and that includes the director of policy and the director of disability programmes.'
There are also doubts about the new commission's willingness to champion disability issues. A green paper published in June set out proposals to rationalise anti-discrimination legislation with a single equalities Act and duty.
But the proposal to remove the requirement on public bodies to write and publish an action plan in favour of a set of equality objectives has prompted fears that this is a watering down of the current system.
A source told PF: 'The real anxiety is that the Disability Equality Duty is going to go down the pan and the new commission isn't going to go out and fight.'
But a spokesman for the new commission dismissed concerns that the focus on disability would be lost. He said that a disability committee, chaired by veteran campaigner Baroness Jane Campbell, had already been established and would flag up any areas of concern. 'But this is a new organisation,' he added. 'It's a lot bigger and has a wider remit and can look at equality issues across the board.'
PFoct2007
